San Jose City Planning Commissioner Edesa Bitbadal has taken the lead in campaign cash among the six candidates hoping to succeed San Jose City Councilwoman Nancy Pyle in the District 10 race that includes the Almaden and Blossom Valley areas.

Pyle is termed out of office after this year, and because the District 10 race is the only open race for a council seat in the June 5 primary, it’s considered the only real competitive match.

Campaign finance forms due Thursday included fundraising from Jan. 1 through March 17 and showed that Bitbadal had collected $86,765, with backing from former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and his wife Guiselle Nunez, each of whom contributed the maximum of $500.

“I feel truly blessed to be supported by a broad coalition of friends and residents and community leaders,” said Bitbadal. She also has received an open endorsement from the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, though the group prefers her opponent, Brian O’Neill, who got its primary endorsement. But Bitbadal, a former council aide to labor ally Councilman Kansen Chu, said that, if elected, she plans to work hard for all the district’s residents, not just on behalf of certain factions.

She pointed out that at least $28,000 in contributions came from residents, which she said is “indicative of people seeing my work in the community” as a volunteer.

Financial adviser Johnny Khamis, who had raised almost $30,000 by year’s end in 2011, came in second this go-round, with $41,078 in contributions. He has also loaned himself $20,000.

While he applauded Bitbadal’s haul, he said there’s a big difference between the two of them: “We’re going after a whole different set of people: I’m pro-pension reform, and she is going after the union vote.”

For that reason, among others, both Khamis and television broadcaster Robert Braunstein have been co-endorsed by the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee.

A controversial pension reform measure also will appear on the June 5 ballot. And a committee that supports it and includes San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and the chamber’s PAC raised $202,275 by Thursday’s deadline. The measure would trim city worker pensions, whose ballooning costs have devoured funding for city services.

But union-backed opponents have yet to establish a committee to fight the measure.

San Jose Unified school board member Leslie B. Reynolds came in third place in this period, raising $33,155 from such supporters as Don Iglesias, search firm partner, Leadership Associates; California Strategies owner Jim Cuneen; and John Danner, CEO of Rocketship Education. She gave $9,500 of her own money to her campaign and loaned it another $20,000.

O’Neill, a county appraiser and Service Employees International Union leader, raised $27,233, including $19,000 he has loaned himself. He is supported by Salinas Assemblyman Luis Alejo; Fremont Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski; the National Association of Letter Carriers, and Cindy Chavez, executive officer at the South Bay Labor Council.

Denelle Fedor, council aide to San Jose Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio, raised $21,475 from folks including Mark Tersini, Vice President of KT Properties; Evergreen Elementary School District trustee Jim Zito; and Robert Bettencourt of Bettencourt Properties. She gave herself $500.

Meanwhile, contributions in other council races include those for District 2, where incumbent City Councilman Ash Kalra raised about $15,000 during this period; his challenger Tim Murphy, a high-tech engineer and former Hudson, Ohio, city councilman, said he has not yet raised any money.

In District 4, incumbent City Councilman Chu continued to lead the three-way race, raising $44,602, while San Jose police officer Tam Truong, endorsed by Mayor Reed, raised $19,590. Rafael Sabic, a mortgage sales manager and neighborhood commissioner, followed with $4,665, which included a $3,895 loan from his wife.

In District 6, incumbent City Councilman Oliverio, a staunch pension reform advocate, collected $121,157 from about 500 donors, most of whom he said live in his district. One opponent, lawyer Steve Kline, who is union-backed, raised $16,032 during this period, including $8,000 of his own money, raising the total he has loaned himself to $15,500.

But Oliverio said he’s not letting down his guard. The third candidate in the race, City Hall denizen Bill Chew, eschews fundraising.

In District 8, incumbent City Councilwoman Rose Herrera reported raising $48,771 in this period, about eight times the individual totals of her two challengers. Attorney Jimmy Nguyen brought in $5,680, and East Side Union High School District trustee Patricia Martinez-Roach took in $5,494.

“I’ve been working really hard since December, and I’m grateful to the people who have supported me,” said Herrera, who also supports pension reform.

In the county board of supervisors race, incumbents George Shirakawa Jr. and Dave Cortese, a mayoral hopeful, are running unopposed.

Competing in the District 5 supervisor’s race to succeed Liz Kniss, who is being termed out, are state Sen. Joe Simitian, the perceived favorite, as well as Cupertino Councilman Barry Chang and ex-Mayor Kris Wang.

Only Wang submitted her campaign finance report by this newspaper’s deadline; she has raised $59,287.

(Click here if you are unable to view this photo gallery on your mobile device) The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek celebrates the life of its founder Ruth Bancroft who died at 109 on November 26, 2017. The Ruth Bancroft Garden is a nonprofit public dry garden that was planted by Mrs. Ruth Bancroft in 1972 and was opened to the...